Rama Krishna Sangm
After serving India with normal rainfall for four months, South West Monsoon is finally on retreat – from September 19 onward. This will take about a week or so. But the rains that are lashing the country, especially Telangana are of strong in nature. Retreating monsoon rains look exactly those of onset – accompanied with thunder and lightening.
India’s monsoon rains started retreating from the northwest of the country on September 23 Monday, nearly a week later than normal, the state-run India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a statement.
India’s annual monsoon provides almost 70 per cent of the rain it needs to water farms and replenish reservoirs and aquifers and is the lifeblood of a nearly $3.5-trillion economy. Without irrigation, nearly half of Indian farmland depends on the rains that usually run from June to September.
The monsoon generally begins in June and starts to retreat by Sept. 17 but the rains continued this year, which helped to replenish reservoirs but damaged the harvesting of crops that were ready in some states.
Reuters reported in August that monsoon rains were likely to extend into late September this year due to the development of a low-pressure system. Monsoon rains this season have so far been 5.5 per cent above average, according to IMD.
Conditions are favourable for a further retreat of the southwest monsoon from some other parts of West Rajasthan and adjoining areas of Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat during next 24 hours, the IMD said.
India depends on south west monsoon for 70 per cent of its rainfall. This year, as predicted by the IMD, rains were normal – meaning plus or minus 100 per cent.
